The Government has just announced that the lockdown is to be tightened in the North of England from midnight tonight, which means that separate households won’t be allowed to meet indoors in East Lancashire, Greater Manchester and parts of West Yorkshire for the foreseeable.

The UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said an “increasing rate of transmission” had been identified in those areas.

“The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing,”

He also reiterated that the lockdown restrictions in Leicester will remain in place for now.

The areas that will have tighter restrictions are Greater Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees.

“We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of Covid across Europe and are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep people safe,” Mr Hancock.

Today the total number of Covid-19 associated deaths now stands at 45,999.

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